Dynamics of Openness in Innovation Processes—A Case Study in the Finnish Food Industry

Abstract

Recent practical business discussion and academic studies highlight the collaborative nature of innovation activities. Today, almost all innovations are generated in cooperation with others in a systemic world. The role of openness is widely acknowledged, but the dynamics of openness in innovation processes is studied and discussed less. There is a lack of understanding about the open and closed phases during innovation processes. By observing such dynamics, this study extends the current theories from the point of open and closed phases in innovation processes. The analysis is based on a case study on a large Finnish food industry company and its long-term innovation process concerning the utilization of rye fibre since the early 1990s. The results show that it is very important to understand the interaction and the critical points during dynamic phases of innovation processes. Seizing the phases of openness and closure is crucial for successful innovation.

Assessment of the Impact of Coaching on a Company’s Performance: A Review of Methods

“…They concluded that open innovation mindset means openness, building mutual trust, risk-taking and adaptability to change. A positive attitude toward openness is regarded as a favorable factor for successful open innovation [16,25]. The findings of the research conducted by Engelsberger with a group of scholars [20] evidenced that companies should invest in practices which facilitate developing open innovation mindset among employees.…”

A Dynamic Learning Perspective on Innovation Control: Balancing Freedom and Constraint

“…Recent discussion has highlighted the idea that innovation is more of a dynamic complementary process with integrated feedback loops than a linear set of pre-planned steps to final outcomes (cf. James et al, 2013;Mäkimattila, 2014;Mäkimattila, Melkas & Uotila, 2013;Santoro, Vrontis, Thrassou & Dezi, 2017;Thrassou, Vrontis & Bresciani, 2018a, 2018b): Actions at different levels need to be synchronised. Although grounded in the tasks of individuals, the group initiative is to handle uncertainty related to the tasks and to entrust challenging demands to group processes (Brav, Andersson & Lantz, 2009).…”

Open Innovation in Universities: The Relationship Between Innovation and Commercialisation

“…The extant innovation literature reinforces the scientific and technological approach at the expense of knowledge innovations. Although, initially, innovation in services has focused on sectors with high economic relevance (such as banking and telecommunications), the study of innovation processes in other sectors (such as in higher education sector, tourism, health and food industry) is only more recent (Consoli and Mina, ; Castro‐Martínez, ; Mäkimattila et al ., ). For instance, researchers contend that we know little about the type of firm characteristics required to promote collaboration between firms and external entities (Belso‐Martínez, ), and there is a paucity of research on the motivations to innovate within service providers such as universities and technology centres (Zhang and Li, ).…”